3 Free eBooks - September 2014

It’s time again for the monthly post about eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for September 2014.

Calvert, Albert Frederick. Southern Spain - Painted by Trevor Haddon. London: A&C Black. 1908. Available from the Internet Archive here. I particularly liked the images of courtyards….beautiful outdoor spaces.

Moore, Frederic. The Lepidoptera of Ceylon. London: L. Reeve & Co. 1890. Three volumes from the Internet Archive: one, two, three.  The author was very active in India as well. I’ve looked at all the volumes for Ceylon and have started the ones for India. I wonder how many of the species still exist?

Brown, Leanne. Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day. New York. 2014. Available from the author’s website. You’ll get hungry just looking at recipes in this book!  I got caught on the first one (tomato scrambled eggs)…made it for lunch before I finished the rest of the book!

Enjoy some wonderful images (and some good food ideas)!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 13, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The Chemicals behind the Colors of Autumn Leaves - I couldn’t resist including the link to this post about the colors of fall - from a chemistry perspective.

Smithsonian’s Wilderness Forever Photo Contest - A collection of photographs celebrating 50 years of the Wilderness Act.

Doctors Discover a Woman with No Cerebellum - Wow! Evidently there are some other documented cases of this…but not well studied in a living person.

Scientists discover how to 'switch off' autoimmune diseases - Another step forward in systems biology to understand and then treat the root cause of a disease rather than treatment based on symptom relief.. Until recently it was not even possible to gain the understanding. Is this type of treatment going to become the future of medicine?

New Database of Food Policy Resources - From the Johns Hopkins Center for Livable Future.

New digital map reveals stunning hidden archaeology of Stonehenge - And we thought we knew everything that was there….what a difference applying new technology makes!

This Animated Field Guide to North American Butterflies Is Mesmerizing - Expand the graphic and just look at it! How many do your recognize?

It's the pits: Ancient peach stones offer clues to fruit's origins - Using pits to track the domestication of peaches in China….7,500 years ago.

Who Really Declared War on Coal - It turns out that China’s GDP decoupled from coal consumption in the 2008-2010 time frame. It’s a very good thing for China that it can continue to grow even while improving their air quality by moving to other kinds of energy production.

Bacteria from bees possible alternative to antibiotics - 13 lactic acid bacteria are found in fresh honey and they produce many antimicrobial compounds.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 14, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

10 Top National Wildlife Refuges to Explore - I’ve only been to 2 of the 10 (Chincoteague and Wichita Mountains but I’ll take the opportunity to see more if I am in the area of these. I was surprised that Merritt Island (Florida) did not make the top 10.

The Sleep Schedules of Some of History's Greatest Minds - I was surprised at how many are on a 10PM to 5 or 6 AM schedule (which is similar to what seems to work best for me!)

The 10 Cutest Animal Flash Mobs in the World - The hummingbird video (#6 on the list has music to enjoy while you watch the hummingbirds getting fuel for migration. It’s a strangely relaxing frenzy!

The Finest Examples of Art Nouveau Architecture in Central Europe - I am more interesting in architecture since I took the Roman Architecture course last spring.

Articles that appeared recently about two of my favorite places: Mesa Verde National Park and Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Road Salt Creating Beefier Butterflies - A little extra salt causes developmental changes (and they are different for male and female Monarch butterflies) that could be beneficial….and then at some point the extra salt becomes toxic.

Company man or family man? Fatherhood and identity in the office - Research published just in time for Father’s Day.

Common heart drug's link to diabetes uncovered by researchers - The study found that statins can activate an immune response that stopped insulin from doing its job properly….and that taking Glyburide suppressed the side effect. It is a bad thing to take a drug that then requires us to take another drug. How do we determine when the bad side effects multiply beyond the benefits of the cocktail?

Most comprehensive 'world map of research' yet: Researchers analyze 15 million scientific articles - Articles used from the analysis were published from 1996-2006. There are three clusters of countries: biomedical, basic science and agriculture/fisheries. The US is in the biomedical cluster, Singapore and Japan are in basic science and most of the developing nations are in agriculture/fisheries.

Fruits, Vegetables, and Disease Risk - Which vegetables are the most nutrient rich? This article points to a recently released report that include a list (available here).

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 24, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Ten Fabulous Facts about Butterflies: A Wildlife Garden’s Best Friend - Now that the weather in our area is getting warmer…..we’ll be seeing more butterflies. They’re one of my signposts of summer!

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2014 - The list is from the editors of MIT’s Technology Review (and they include a pointer to past lists too).

Diatoms on Display - Fan shaped - they reminded me of stylized papyrus images.

Why Do Americans Hate Lives of Leisure? - The article went a different direction than I anticipated. It really was not about ‘lives of leisure’ but about why we tend to feel we have too little or none at all.

Blocking pain receptors extends lifespan, boosts metabolism in mice - It is appealing to find that something done to improve the quality of life (like blocking pain) might also extend lifespan. Of course - it may not work the same in humans as it does in mice.

Super-power Chia Bread - My routine breakfast is a tablespoon of chia seeds in almond milk - but I have been noticing more recipes that include chia recently and this is one I plan to try. It would be a lot easier to eat ‘on the go.’

London’s Greatest Scientific Experiments - An interactive tour.

On the shoulder of a giant: Precursor volcano to the island of O'ahu discovered - My daughter is in Hawaii on a geology field trip right now so this article captured my attention.

A Map of National Landmarks That Are Most Vulnerable to Climate Change - Time to plan a vacation to see some of these? We were at the NASA Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral National Seashore last fall.

Visualizing the Ocular Microbiome - The surface of our eyes is yet another complex ecosystem and it has some unique properties. Modern molecular diagnostic tools are increasing our understanding of what it takes to sustain ‘health.’

Filigree Floral Sculpture Produced with Innovative 3D Printing - This one is added to my list for the week because of beauty and the use of technology.